This invention relates to an electrically operated compressor for motor vehicle horns, of a type which comprises, arranged in mutual axial alingment relationship, an electric motor having a stator, a pair of brushes, and a shaft carrying a rotor winding and a commutator, and an air compressor having a casing and a vane rotor driven rotatively by said shaft within said casing.
Such an electrical compressor is designed for installation on a motor vehicle equipped with at least one air-operated horn for the purpose of supplying it with compressed air on demand.
Conventional electrical compressors of the type indicated above, while performing satisfactorily all-around and accomplishing substantially their object, still have some drawbacks in need of a remedy.
In fact, they are prone to water seepage as a motor vehicle is driven in the rain, even though they are generally installed at locations under the engine hood which are protected as best as possible. Water seepage affects the electric portion of the electrical compressor and may well jeopardize the effectiveness of horns if allowed to get at them.
It has been suggested of guarding such electrical compressors by means of a pair of juxtaposed shell halves. That approach, however, shows to be expensive, inconvenient, and likely to result in the compressor unit overheating.
Another drawback of prior horn electrical compressors is inherent to their complex construction, and reflects in a high cost, hardly to be conceded with an accessory item such as this, and bound to hinder its widespread commercial acceptance.